Eat/Wake/Sleep Routine (EWS or EASY)


Yeah. I'm finally doing this post. I think it will clear up a lot of the question I've gotten from some people since Eat/Wake/Sleep (EWS) is a common routine that
people use.

This routine or cycle also goes by the name of EASY which is an acronym The Baby Whisperer uses. It stands for eat/activity/sleep/you...you being you time during baby's sleep times-Yeah!

How do I do the EWS cycle?
It's pretty simple. Let's start off with the first thing in the morning (a consistent time, preferably). Baby wakes up and is hungry and EATS. Then baby has some ACTIVITY or WAKETIME. After some time, baby is tired and ready for SLEEP. Baby takes a nap and then wakes up and is hungry again so she EATS. And repeat. It's pretty simple. So why the heck is this post so long??

Additional tips on the EWS cycle
Eating times for newborns are usually somewhere between 15-45 minutes as long as baby isn't sleeping during the feed. Babies are unique so you will have to figure out how long feedings normally take or how much baby is eating if you are breastfeeding. Keep in mind that feeding times shorten as babies get older and they also may lengthen every now and again during growth spurts.

Waketimes include feeding time and activity time. You can see some average waketimes for different ages on the waketime post.

If your child isn't a short nap taker (see below), then naps are usually around 1.5-2 hours long depending on the age of your baby, the time of day and your child's individual sleep needs. The last nap of the day is often a short one so the cycle may end up being E/W/S then waketime with a feeding right before bed (I like to feed right before bed but some people will do the feeding followed by waketime then bed).

You might want to keep a sleep and eating log when you are first starting this cycle. Some people suggest you always keep a log which isn't a bad idea (assuming you don't obsess over it), but there is no way I could keep at that long term. This log will help you figure out what waketimes seem to work the best, baby's eating habits etc.

How long is the EWS cycle?
Much of the time the EWS cycle for healthy newborns is between 2-3 hours. This is the case if baby is having long naps (see, nap lengths), taking full feeds and isn't sleeping during feeds. As your child gets older the cycle length increases. Most babies around 5-6 months of age go around 4 hours on this cycle with sometimes an extra feed or even two stuck in there somewhere. You will have to see what works for your baby and continually adjust things as her needs change. Remember to try to be consistent while being flexible at the same time.

Think of EWS as waketime (eating and activity) and sleep. Sleep length will probably not change tons at first but the waketime will so you will end up extending the cycle or routine as this happens. You will slowly move to longer cycles and eventually you will no longer have cycles. For more on this, see when to stop the cycle below.

The cycle length may decrease at times, like when your child is in a growth spurt or cluster feeding.

Any kind of combo with this cycle is fine. What I mean is, doing 3 hours followed by 2.5 then 3 again is fine. Most babies nap better at certain times and stay awake longer at other times.


When many people refer to the E/W/S cycle and how long they go between each cycles, they will just say how long their baby goes between feeds since a feed starts each cycle. So if they go 3 hours between feeds they are on a 3 hour long cycle.



What if my child takes short naps?
If long naps are not happening, you can look at the short naps post for tips. With newborns, if they wake after a short nap, leaving them for a few minutes or snuggling/rocking them for a few minutes will often help them fall back asleep and help you achieve a long nap. Doing this will help them get into a pattern of longer naps for the future.

If you cannot get long naps going, (which isn't uncommon) and you want to have feeds that aren't closer together than baby is requiring, then consider changing the cycle around to what fits your situation. People often end up with eat/wake/sleep/wake/sleep/eat/ or something along those lines. The point is to try to have something that is somewhat consistent and doesn't have baby feeding to sleep. And try not to stress yourself out! Some babies are simply short nappers for a while no matter what you do. There is no sense in fighting with the impossible. This routine is here to help you and your baby, not make matters more difficult.

Benefits of the EWS cycle
  • It helps create order and routine to you and your baby's day. You know what to expect and so does baby.
  • It helps newborns distinguish night from day.
  • In my opinion, it helps you better figure out when baby is hungry, sleepy, or has some other need.  
  • It helps you interpret your baby's cries. You know when your baby normally eats and sleeps and any cries around these times are probably cries that signal he is in need of these things. Most, if not all, of the time you won't even get to the cry stage. You know when your baby is normally hungry or sleepy and you anticipate these things. You put your baby to sleep before he gets to the overtired stage and you feed your baby before he is overly hungry. This is especially helpful for busy moms (or any one who has more than one child) who aren't able to watch for their baby's cues 24/7.
  • It helps reduce sleep props since you will be putting baby to sleep after activity rather than nursing or bottle feeding.
  • It helps baby go a reasonable amount of time between feeds by taking full feeds instead of snack feeds and by staying well rested.  In my experience it is harder for a baby to go much time without a feed when he is smelling and seeing his food source rather than when he is sleeping. It is also a lot harder for a tired and fussy baby to go very long between feeds.
  • When you have an idea of when baby eats and sleeps, I find it much easier to schedule in other things that need to be done like dinner and one on one time with other children.
  • A routine helps dad and other people more easily take care of your children. It makes a huge difference, especially with children who are sensitive to change. And having a routine in place helps keep things as normal as possible for your children when you are away or when you are in a different place.
  • One of the main reasons I suggest the eat/wake/sleep cycle is that it often makes sleep training a lot easier. It helps reduce the feeding to sleep that is a common sleep prop, it helps space out feeds and it helps parents evaluate and keep track of wake times so they can put their children to sleep before they are overtired.
  • From my own and others experience, EWS results in a very happy and alert baby. With this cycle, during all your child's play time he is well rested and well fed. With children, this is a perfect time to learn. Also, if you have seen a well rested and well fed baby, you know that they are very happy!

When do I start and stop the EWS cycle?
I suggest starting the cycle with newborns but you can start anytime with your young baby.

You pretty much stop the cycle when it doesn't make sense to do it any longer. Waketimes get longer and naps get further apart and giving a feed after each nap just doesn't make sense because it makes the feeds too far apart and it doesn't give baby enough feeds during the day. At this point you will fit in the feeds in whatever way makes the most sense (still avoiding feeding to sleep). Eventually you'll end up with a 3 meal a day routine with 1-2 snacks and probably a feed before bed. This change out of the EWS cycle usually happens around 6 months of age.

When you phase out of this cycle, some children will have a hard time getting used to not eating right when they wake up. One of my children had a bit of a hard time with this. I gave him a sippy of water upon waking for a several days then he was fine. When you baby is older and doesn't wake super hungry, you might want to consider waiting a few minutes after naps before feeding him so he doesn't get used to eating the second he wakes. 


Some "experts" or books that suggest this cycle:
  • Babywise suggests 2.5-3 hour EWS cycles for newborns (see pdf feedings). These cycles will extend closer to 4 hours apart as baby gets older. Once again, a combo routine is fine. Many people will drop the dreamfeed before extending out feeds (and therefore the e/w/s cycle) much more than 3 hours.
  • The Baby Whisperer suggests feedings around 3 hours apart for newborns and around 4 hours apart at 4 months of age. The dreamfeed is usually dropped after the feeds are extended.


Related Post:

76 comments:

  1. Hi Rachel,
    My ten month old still nurses to sleep most of the time and arches her back and cries if I try to get her drowsy by rocking her etc. Any tips on how to make the change to the EWS routine?

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    1. Kerry Jenkins,
      You can wean from nursing to sleep first then extend out the feeds then work on putting it in the ews pattern. Or go ahead and first work on extending out feeds then one they are extended do the ews routine and work on having her sleep without nursing then. I don't think there is really a best way to o it because it depends a lot on temperament and wht you feel you can handle doing at once. Just don't extend feeds out too quickly--give her some time to get used to them moving farther apart. Your going to have some protesting for sure. Look ver the leep training pists(including book reviews there) to see what method you want to use to hel drop the nursing to sleep sleep prop.

      Rachel

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  2. Hi Rachel,
    I have a 12 week old and I am trying to move to the EWS routine, but right now she nurses when she wakes up and before going down for a nap. I've tried skipping nurses before the nap, but I haven't been successful. I make sure she drains both breasts while nursing, but when I try to put her down or a nap without nursing she is absolutely miserable. She sucks on her tongue or her hand (that she always manages to get out of the swaddle). Do you have any ideas what I could do differently?

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    1. Kimberly Hawkins,
      She may need more time to get used to extending feedings more. Even if you give her a full feeding, if it hasn't been very long since her last feeding she won't take as much food as she'd take after, say 3 hours of no food. So she won't be able to last as long without food after the feed.

      Sounds like a prop issue too. She is used to going to sleep eating and wants to keep that up. Look over the sleep prop post and the sleep training posts to decide your next move/what method you prefer.

      Rachel

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  3. I totally LOVE this post! I just wrote a similar one on my experiences with the "EWS" cyle. You have so many great tips. Thanks for your wisdom!

    Jen
    The Birthing Lady

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  4. I need help! My son is just over 2 months old and just this week I have decided to implement the EASY routine. A little background: Zachary has reflux (for which he is being treated) and is also a gassy baby. He is also exclusively breastfed. I cannot get this baby to cooperate! He wants to eat and then sleep no matter what I do and I can't get him to nap! I have to return to work in a few weeks and need a routine down pat. I have been able to do the dreamfeed and get him to sleep through the night but then he did this on his own without the dreamfeed a couple of times. This week has been very trying! The first day he woke up to eat at 7 so I got him up and started the EASY thing...he slept only 2 hours that day. The next day, he was so sleepy in the morning that it took an hour to feed. The third day we slept late (my fault, I was so tired) and I think his little belly hurt. He didn't want to nap and was awake from 9 am - 3 pm and finally passed out and slept for 3 hours. Getting him to sleep that night was terrible! He doesn't like to be swaddled and the routine as suggested in the book (the 4 S's) doesn't work with him. He wants to be rocked. There have been a couple of times I have put him down and he is able to put himself to sleep but it's hit or miss. I spent hours last night trying to get him to sleep!!! HOURS!!! I did everything by the book, finally just got him up and put him in his swing. I think he went to sleep at 10:30 pm. He went from 9 pm - 4 am without eating and without a dreamfeed, ate at 4 and then again at 7 am. For the 7 am feed I got him up and started the EASY routine again. Every day this week and all day long today, he acts tired and sleepy. I think he is chronically overtired and what has been called "colic" is really a baby whose parents can't read his cues. His sleepy cues are subtle but I usually notice the delayed blinking first off but he is always tired so it's a challenge to know when to put him down at the exact "right" moment. So here it is now, our 4th day...he has fought sleep all day, has slept a total of 2 hours in sporadic little naps; eating is erratic as well (he actually "fought" me earlier, crying at the breast, pulling off and not wanting to latch back on); his little eyes are tired, he rubs them, pulls at his ears and the ONLY way I got him to sleep was to rock him. Doing the shush-pat thing doesn't work, it distracts him. And like I said, he hates being swaddled most of the time. He will lay there and grunt and move around trying to pull his arms out and most of the time, he is successful. I do give a pacifier; he uses it but doesn't seem to be dependent on it to sleep as he will spit it out. I don't know what I am doing wrong!!! I am trying so hard and this is so exasperating. He was eating every 3 hours until the 3rd day into EASY and now it's just way off! I like the idea of EASY and I think it's helping me to read his cues better. I am contemplating an earlier bed time tonight to see if he can catch up on sleep on this end of the day. I will say his crying is less than before. HELP!!! I am ready to throw in the towel but I really think my problem is an overtired baby!!!

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    1. Hi Leah ..my 9 week old is the exact same way as your little one. Were you able to fight off his poor napping habits?

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  5. Hi Rachel,
    I have a 12 week old girl. We have been following the Eat Wake Sleep cycle since about week 2. She is breastfed and feeds pretty consistently every three hours. In the beginning she would wake up twice in the middle of the night for a feed and around 6 weeks she transitioned to waking up once during the night at about 3:30. She still wakes up every night at 3:30 for a feed. Do you have any suggestions as to how we can work to cut the middle of the night feed? Her last feed of the day is normally around 9:30 or 10:00 (when I go to bed) and her first feed is around 6:45 am, with a middle of the night feed at 3:30, give or take 30 minutes. Otherwise, she is a great sleeper.
    This trasition
    Thanks,
    Katie, Cody, and baby Adalyn.

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    1. Katie Earnest,
      Time will likely help a lot. Many babies at this age start to extend sleep even more. You can try to feed for less time ever few days, offer a pacifier instead of the feed or hold off the feed in another way to move it slowly later. Don't rush in to feed, you can try wake to sleep, and there are probably a couple things I didn't think of in the night waking post comments :) Glad to hear she is generally sleeping great for you!

      Rachel

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  6. Hi Rachel,

    Do you have any suggestions on how to get into this routine when our baby (5mo) does not usually want to eat when he first wakes up? He often wakes up too early so he can poop and then doesn't go back to sleep, so my husband takes him for a while and then he comes back about 1-1.5 hours later to nurse and sleep some more with me (we co-sleep but are starting to slowly transition to a crib for naps and the first part of the night). He still nurses very frequently day and night (every 2-3 hours) but he is small and not gaining very fast so I'm hesitant to mess with the feedings. I want to break the association so other people can put him to sleep too.

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    1. Chantelle,
      Are you trying to get into a routine, or just break the eat to sleep habit? If you want to do a routine, I'd work on getting feeds at least 3 hours apart right now. You'll want to monitor weight, but unless he has a health issue or you have some sort of milk supply issue, then he should be getting just as much food this far apart. Some babies will even have weight improvement not eating as often. You'll need to monitor it and slowly extend out. He has to get used to eating less frequently. He's used to some snacks in there and it makes him not so full so he gets hungry sooner and repeat. anyway, let me know your plans and what type of routine you are aiming for if you want one so I can help better.

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  7. Rachel,
    My daughter is 9 weeks old and kind of sort of on the EWS cycle, for the most part. The problem that I'm having is that she doesn't really seem hungry at 3 hours. I think 3.5 to 4 hours would be better, but I have no idea how to do that with her wake time being only an hour. She generally takes 2 hour naps, and when she wakes up she isn't really too hungry. I can usually get her to eat, but sometimes she will only take about 3 oz. If I try to just let her have her awake time when she wakes up then she is either hungry half way through or right when I would be trying to put her back down. If she's hungry half way through then I feed her and she takes so long to eat (usually about 30-45 min) that by the time I try to put her down again she's already overtired.

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    1. Melissa,
      If you can't get her to eat every 3 hours, then feel free to change the EWS up. The idea is to 1) not have baby eat to sleep 2) create some predictability to your day so you and baby know what to expect and so you are better able to tell what baby may need at one time or another. You can do some activity after a nap if that is what works. You'll just have to take into account how long it takes for her to eat and make sure to start the feed before then. Maybe even just 15 minutes after her nap she'll be ready for a feed.

      rachel

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  8. Hi Rachel,

    My 7 week old girl just don't want to sleep after wake time, she always wants to be fed to sleep, otherwise, she will just cry forever (seriously! until next feeding!). I don't know how to break the eat-activity-eat-sleep or simply eat-sleep pattern. She seems to already associated sleep with my nipple...I am in my last year of thesis and really need to get her to routine so that I can have some hours to finish my thesis, with her having to always be fed to sleep, I don't know if this could work...Am I starting sleep training too early? Should I start two-three weeks later? Should I still allow her to be fed to sleep meanwhile? If not, how can I put her to sleep? I try the four S but it doesn't work, she refuses to sleep after the routine (actually she crys starting the third S). I really need your help! Thank you!

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    1. Memoryofyou,
      I know I'm too late, but if I was in your situation, I would feed to sleep if she slept ok for now and then work on ST when she was a bit older and you weren't so busy with your thesis. You will have habits to break later, but it sounds like it is going to take a lot of work and time right now regardless, which you don't really much of :)

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  10. Hi Rachel,
    We have been doing EWS since week 3. My son is now almost 3 months old. He still seems to want to eat every 2.5 hours and, per EWS, takes a nap in between each meal which means he naps 5 times a day (for a total of about 4 hours of day time sleep). However, he is starting to take longer naps and we have read that he should only be taking 3 naps per day so we are thinking we should transition to fewer, longer naps. This also sounds appealing because it will give us a bit more freedom to get out! But...given that he eats every 2.5 hours and, according to EWS, he should nap between every meal, I'm not sure how to make this transition. Fortunately, thanks to doing EWS since week 3, he doesn't need to eat to get to sleep but I do appreciate having the routine and I do think he is accustomed to eating when he wakes. Any advice on how to make this transition?
    Thanks,
    Christy

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    1. Christy Satterfield,
      If you want naps to be longer (I'm not sure if you are waking and limiting naps or if she simply takes shorter naps) you'll have to either move feeds further apart or change up the ews routine. At 3 months, healthy babies generally do totally fine at eating every three hours. You can just gently and slowly extend them out a few minutes at a time each day. As feed are extended out, you'd have naps go until the next feed which would be longer. As far as if naps are short and you need to extend those out, look over the short nap post.

      rachel

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  11. Hi Rachel! This is a fantastic website - thank you for it. We have a nearly two week old and the 7am-10am-1pm-4,6,8 cluster-10:30pm feeds are working well. I'm a bit confused about how the night time feeds fit in at this stage. She fed in the night at 1:50am and 4:50am. My concern is she will try to drop the 7am feed. Do you have any advice? Thank you so

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  13. Hi Rachel - so sorry, the above post about the two week old and night time feeds was from me, Liz - I messed up the username bit! Thanks in advance for your help

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  15. Hi Rachel,

    We typically do 3 hour cycle, but my question is there any interference if we wait 30 minutes before feed after being awake? For example= wake, we'll play on belly and back for a bit because of reflux, feed, (wake) activity, then sleep. I wonder if its causing issues with 45 minutes intruder. Just trying to rule it all out. Wake time is 1.5. Thank you!

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    1. Diane,
      No problem not feeding right after waking up. The older baby gets the better baby will do with 3-4hrs between feeds. I can't tell you if baby is waking due to hunger, you'd have to trouble shoot that and see what happens.

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    2. Thanks for the reply. After trying to feed earlier... it seems i may have been able to give her a fuller feed than before. Also, I'm guessing I didn't give her enough time to fuss it out. She has learned quickly. Today we had a couple of naps after the 45 minute mark by implementing the two changes. Tonight, i set her down for bedtime awake... no fuss. just sleep. So we'll see how things go. This week we have a curve ball though. She goes to daycare and the room will not be dim. Hopefully she learns quickly to put herself to sleep for naps there. Any helpful tips with transition to day care would be most appreciated! I think putting her down awake has helped a ton.

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  16. To implement this routine...do we wake baby from their nap to maintain the 3 hour EWS?

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    1. Marsha,
      Yes, you do wake baby from a nap to maintain the 3 hour. But you can adjust it around a bit to fit your baby's natural rhythm best. For example, if she is more sleepy and naps better at one part of the day, you could do 3.5 hours then. I like to stick closer to 3 as baby is learning to figure out night and day, but after that the pattern and making sure baby gets enough daily food is most important.

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  17. I have a five month old and we've been using EWS since day 1 and it works great! He eats at 7, 10, 1, 4, 7 and 9 with naps right before all feeds except the last. He's wanting to have longer awake times now and also seems to want a longer morning nap. How do I transition? Do I feed less times a day? I don't want his bedtime to get later and don't want to disrupt his nice pattern of sleeping through the night!

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    1. Emily, you usually start to transition to a 3-4 hour routine.

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    2. If I transitioned to a 4 hour routine I'd feed at 7, 11, 3, 7 and 9 with the same number of naps but 5 feedings per day instead of 6. Is it better to cut out one feeding like this or keep 6 feedings and cut out one nap?

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  18. My 2 week old sleeps like a champ during the day, usually I have to wake him for his 3 hour feeding. He is exclusively breastfed (although I also pump and my husband usually gives him a middle of the night bottle). He doesn't have much awake time during the day and in fact I have to work at keeping him awake during feedings (rubbing his was, ticketing his feet). I don't know how to keep him awake during he day without making him fussy or cry. At night he' a mess waking 1.5/2 hours. We are working on the day/night confusion, keeping him in our dark quiet bedroom at night and the bright loud living room during the day. How do we start the EWS? And how can I fix his night time sleeping?

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    1. I'm experiencing the same thing with our 4 week old. She will have a hard time sleeping and will sometimes be up for hours...many.
      I really need some answers.
      Good cycles during the day btw

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  19. Don't expect much awake time during the day besides a feeding and diaper change. He's so little that the main thing that will help right now is just time. Do your best to help him sleep comfortably at night and it will improve in a bit

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  21. Rachel, my baby pretty much put herself in this routine around 10 weeks old, and not until after that did I find out this was a real thing! I was so excited that she was already doing this. Most of the time she would even put herself to sleep without any help if I timed it just right, but now she is exactly 4 months old and out of nowhere she will not put herself to sleep anymore! I follow her cues and put her down when she starts getting sleepy, and usually she starts sucking her thumb and goes to sleep, but recently I put her down and she just arches her back and starts screaming, even if she was perfectly content before I put her down! Lately she only goes to sleep if I bounce her around or feed her again.. Why has she suddenly gotten so bad at going down for naps? Here I thought I had a perfect routine, and the past few days I've been so distraught.. Is there anything I can do to get her back on track with her naps?

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  22. Thanks for your post. My son is 8.5 weeks and can eat every 3 hours, his wake time is 60-70 min, and his naps generally may be as short as 1 hour. I know nap times can be inconsistent till about 3 months(ish) so what do I do for that extra 30-45 minutes until it is time to feed again? This is confusing me and I am having trouble keeping the 3 hour schedule because of this. So obviously I am not able to just feed at (7 wake time), 10, 1, and 4. Because of not being able to hit these feeding times am I really messing him (his internal scheduling) up?? Your advice would be greatly appreciated!

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    1. Keithlynn,
      I left some comments for you on the short nap post :)

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  23. Hello,
    I've been following a flexible easy routine for around a month whixh has been going ok. However lately my 4 mth old is fighting his 4th nap to the point of not sleeping, just crying/fussing. He isn't happy to be awake for more than 1-1.25 hrs at a time so I have no idea what to do! He will be up anywhere from 2:30-4pm until bedtime!!
    Thanks, Shae

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  24. So I'm trying to do that EWS routine with my breast milk fed baby. She is 14 weeks old. Lately her naps have all been 42 minutes like clockwork. She sleeps wonderfully at night. But back to the naps...Sometimes I'm able to string two of these 42 minute naps together. But not always. The issue then becomes staying on that EWS routine. I've seen some suggestions of doing EWSWS, but then the problem is after some more wake time, she is ready to go down for that second sleep in the cycle, but as soon as I put her down it's about 2 1/2 - 3 hours after her last bottle, in which case she's hungry. So of course I feed her, but then her wake time becomes crazy long and sometimes she ends up falling asleep on the bottle, which is exactly what the routine tries to avoid. Is it bad if I just do easy every time, even if it means only 2 to 2 1/2 hours between feeds? I just feel like she's going backwards, as a couple of weeks ago when she was napping a little bit longer each time during the day, she would go three, 3 1/2, sometimes 4 hours between feeds.

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    1. RavenGrl23,
      It's really a matter of preference in your situation--whatever works best for you. The big thing is to try to not fall asleep while eating and learn to fall asleep on your own and get long periods of sleep at night. If eating every 2.5 hours during the day doesn't impact night, it isn't a big deal. Doing 2.5-4 isn't a big deal either if that is what works best for you two right now. Take a look at the short nap and extending nap posts for more info. good luck!

      rachel

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  25. what do I do if my baby follows the schedule perfectly except that he won't go to bed during the bed time set schedule

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  26. what do I do if my baby follows the schedule perfectly except that he won't go to bed during the bed time set schedule

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  27. what do I do if my baby won't go down for bed time at the set schedule? besides that he follows the schedule perfectly

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    1. Shauna Stallings--
      Do you mean he eats at the E times but doesn't sleep at the S times? Every baby will vary with how long they stay awake (see the waketime length post for specifics), but if it is an issue that he has difficulty sleepy but is tired, you will just have to keep working with this. you may need to help him learn to sleep on his own (see sleep training index) or you may need to find ways to help him go to sleep and stay asleep (like a swing etc).

      good luck!
      rachel

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  28. Hi Rachel!

    My baby is two months old and I have been trying to implement the EWS method however my baby fights sleep with a passion! I have such a hard time putting her down for a nap during the day. She goes 3h between feeds no problem and sleeps 7h at night with one feed usually at 3:30 ish. As soon as she shows signs of being tired I start my nap routine but am never able to get her to fall asleep. This makes her extremely cranky during the day and evening up until she sleeps for the night. Any suggestions?!

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    1. Miss Drolet,
      Take a look at the newborn sleep post for some tips on ST advice, and alternative methods to handle this situation. I'm sorry you've got a sleep fighter. I've been there and it's rough!

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  29. Hi there i have been trying EWS with my 5 week old he has been having shorter naps which i am trying to extend with soothing sometimes it works sometimes it doesnt he normally has 1 long nap in the middle of the day of 2 to 2.5 hours the rest are between 30 minutes to an hour :( if i can get him to have a long nap shoud i feed him as soon as he wakes or wait til he shows me he is hungry? I worry if i wait he might slip into the tired stage and not take a full feed. Before when he waked i was feeding him straight away which meant he was only taking smaller feeds since it hadn't been long since the last feed which i think is contributing to the short naps. I realise this probably isnt correct! Right now he wakes i feed then he usually shows his tired cues around 40 minutes so i start soothing and putting him down (which can take another 20 or so minutes so almost an hour wake time). In the evening he gets fussy he usually has a short 30 min nap around 3 to 4 then will fuss or until bedtime at around 6ish then sleeps his longest stretch of 3 to 4 hours feeding at 10 or 11 then shorter sleeps after that of 2 to 3 hours feeding aroubd 2 to 3 then 5 to 6. A midwife suggested pushing out his bedtime and trying to keep him up a bit longer and making his bed time 7.30 which would then be more consistent with my bedtime of around 8 to 8.30 she said then many he would cut out a feed at night. thoughts? Any advice would be greatful!

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  30. I have a question.. in the mornings my daughter will wake up to feed anywhere between 5:30-7:00 and a lot of time ill nurse her and we both doze off for a while.. what then should be considered wake time? when shes done eating or when she starts eating?

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    1. Shira,
      If she's eating then falling right back asleep (likely while eating) when that isn't really any waketime but a night feed. I would set your beginning feed of the day (that has waketime followed by it even if it is just a little and a feed in bright lights that isn't just a sleepy feed) and stick with it. see the post on morning wake time

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  31. Hello, thank you so much for all the great information and advice on this site! My daughter is almost 9 weeks old and was doing well with 3.5-4 hour EWS cycle for a few weeks except she is fussy in the evening (seems early to go to 4 hrs I know, but I was having to wake her every single cycle from deep sleep and this was better with 4 hrs). About 1.5 wks ago she started waking up only 30 min into her 3rd nap like clockwork. Her wake time is 1.5 hrs, and her 1st and 2nd naps are usually 2 or up to 2.5 hrs; she does great w them. She doesn't seem especially hungry, but I cannot get her back to sleep even when I tried soothing immediately, CIO (10 min max), a paci, and wake to sleep. Is there something else I need to try to get her to sleep longer for her 3rd nap? Are the other naps too long? If she is going to keep taking a very short 3rd nap, what do I do after she wakes up? It seems too early to feed her, but if I wait, then she has been awake so long by the time she eats that it is almost time to go to sleep again (and she won't because it's into her fussy time of the evening). I don't know what to do from here! Thank you!!

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    1. Also, when baby is very fussy at night, is it worth spending 45 min getting her to sleep, or can I just let her be awake for several hours?

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    2. Jessica Hysmith,
      The last nap of the day in the evening, especially at this age, can be tough. I would do whatever helps to make this nap happen. Use a swing or carrier if needed. You might want to do something like a cluster feed int he evening (feeds 2 hours apart) if that helps at this time. You definitely need to feed before she is too tired or you won't get a good feed then you won't get a good sleep period after. I would try extra hard to reduce the over tiredness in the evening. Trying to get her to sleep sooner may reduce the time it takes her to fall asleep. A nap is great for her at this time, and like I said, don't be afraid to assist her in anyway, but if getting her to sleep is too overwhelming and draining for you at times, don't worry if you don't do it. Go out and do something since she isn't going to sleep anyway or will only sleeping a carrier on you etc.

      best,
      rachel

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  32. Can I start this routine at two weeks, or is that too young? My baby girl seems to follow the EWS routine, but takes upwards of 45 mins to fall asleep after eating during the day and an hour at night which is a huge stress. She also sleeps for a good there hours during the day and only an hour between feedings at night, sometimes she just cries the whole time between feedings until she falls asleep eating.

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    1. JKF,
      Yes, 2 weeks is fine. Just make sure to not get overly focused on the length of time between feeds and keep baby's hunger in mind. I would definitely help her fall asleep in any way you can right now to ensure she gets enough sleep day and night. Check out the post on sleep for 0-3 month olds.

      best,
      rachel

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  33. Hi there
    I've read Tracy's book and my baby is on EASY. He is 13 weeks now. However, his naps are very unpredictable...sometimes 30/40/50 min. His awake time is between 1 and 1.5 hrs. He only naps for 1.5 hrs continuously if I hold him, if I lay him down he will wake after 30/40/50 min. I usually then pick him up and can rock him back to sleep with a pacifier to get another 40 min nap or so. I've tried to accept that he might be a short napper but he is definitely not as well rested and wont last 1.5 hrs awake with only a 40min nap. His night sleeping is okay...will sleep for 3-5hr stretches.
    So basically, my cycle goes EASS, EASS etc...? I don't know how to extend his naps other than picking him up and rocking back to sleep...
    Is it fine to do it this way?

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    1. Unknown,
      If he will go back to sleep in your arms or when rocked etc. then he is definitely not a short napper. I would consider a short napper one who will only take short naps no matter what. I would use whatever helps him get his sleep right now. Throw him in a swing after he wakes 40 minutes into a nap if that helps. You can try to work on having him extend his naps, but you may not be quite ready to do that yet as he is pretty young.

      good luck!
      rachel

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  34. Quick question, if you end up with a EWSWSE due to short naps. ....is the W still 1h30 long or does shorten....do you just watch for sleep cues and put him down again even if just being happily awake for 20 min or less? My LO is 13 weeks.

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    1. Marieke,
      I'm not positive I'm understanding your questions exactly but I'll try to answer the best I can...if baby is taking short naps, most likely the waketime will be shorter than what it would be if there were long naps. You will want to work around waketime length as well as sleep cues. At this age, things will probably start getting relatively predictable and sleep cues may only show up somewhat late, so you will probably be working more with waketime among other things (a too short of waketime could lead to not falling asleep quickly, a shorter naps etc).

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  37. Hi Rachel, I've tried to implement an EASY routine from an early age. My 18 week old baby has always been a short napper and I'm kind of at peace with that now. Lately though, he wakes around 6.30/7am but he will only breastfeed for a few minutes (even when it's been 4 hours since his last night feed) the trouble is then though that I think he's not got a full tummy and won't settle for a nap but if I try and feed him any later he'll feed to sleep - any ideas? It's become a bit of an issue with all his daytime feeds and naps. He fights going down for a nap and I am never sure if he's hungry because his last feed was so short or whether he is just nursing for comfort - really hope you can help!

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  38. Hi Rachel, I've tried to implement an EASY routine from an early age. My 18 week old baby has always been a short napper and I'm kind of at peace with that now. Lately though, he wakes around 6.30/7am but he will only breastfeed for a few minutes (even when it's been 4 hours since his last night feed) the trouble is then though that I think he's not got a full tummy and won't settle for a nap but if I try and feed him any later he'll feed to sleep - any ideas? It's become a bit of an issue with all his daytime feeds and naps. He fights going down for a nap and I am never sure if he's hungry because his last feed was so short or whether he is just nursing for comfort - really hope you can help!

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  39. Hi Rachel,
    I want to start by saying that I userld this E/W/S with my first daughter and she started sleaping 12hrs through the night by 8 weeks old (formula fed). I am on my second child (breast fed) and we are doing the E/W/S she is 6 weeks old and between 2-3hrs (usually 2.5) she gives me one 6-8hr stretch at night and wakes at the same time every morning. My problem is the sleeping, she fights it so hard she ends up crying hysterically every time it's nap time/bedtime. I've tried laying her down drowsy and she will fight it till it's time to eat again. I have better luck rocking her but she still fights like crazy and unless she is completely asleep will perk up and cry right when I put her down. Any suggestions for me.

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    1. Unknown,
      Take a look at the newborn 0-3 month sleep guide in regards to these issues. At this age many babies will fight sleep and there is only so much you can do until you are ready to do some more intensive sleep training. sometimes little steps will help though (they are suggested on above post).

      best,
      rachel

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  40. Can somebody PLEASE help me. My 8-week-old is ALL OVER the place. Last Monday he was awake 13 hours with three 20-minute naps. Today, I have been adamantly trying and downright insisting that he take his nap for FOUR HOURS now. I am trying everything I know to get him to eat, wake up for about an hour with playtime and singing and a nice stroll around the neighborhood, then a 2 or 3-hour nap. He wakes up, eats, but he WILL NOT GO TO SLEEP. I'm losing my mind over here. I'm a prisoner in my own home. I can't leave or go anywhere for fear he will want a random feeding or he will cry the whole time. What am I doing wrong? I rock him to sleep, he sleeps five minutes then he wakes up again. I take him for a 30-minute walk, he dozes off, I leave him in his stroller for fear of waking him, he sleeps 20 minutes then wakes up. I tried giving him a little 1 or 2 oz snack, he eats, falls asleep for 10 minutes wakes up again. I'm starving. Haven't eaten yet today, haven't showered, haven't done ANYTHING except tend to him and try to get him to take a FUCKING NAP. Help me!!!!!!

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  41. Hi! I just wanted to say I appreciate your posts. I've done babywise/baby whisperer routine since my daughter was first born. At 8 weeks in struggling with her waking after 40-50 minutes of sleep. We had a couple weeks where she would take two long naps in the early afternoon and the rest of the day do cat naps. Now I can't get her to go more than 40 minutes. I've adjusted wake times and she goes down to sleep beautifully. Sometimes she doesn't even wake up cranky. She will just sit quietly in her rock n play...I'm thinking maybe she is a short napper but I'm not sure. Maybe I need to try the eat wake sleep wake sleep eat. But I'm afraid that will start a pattern for her taking short naps as she gets older.

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  42. Hi there! I really appreciate all of these tips. I have a 4 month old and he is still waking every 2 hours during the night for feedings. I try to give him plenty of play time VERY similar to your EWS model with a couple very good naps midday. I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong...Every time he wakes during the night I feed him a bottle to go back to sleep. Any advise?

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    1. Unknown,
      most likely he is waking at night every 2 hours to eat because he's used to it and needs a feed to help him fall back asleep with each awakening. You could try and lengthen out the time between feeds, working at one feed at a time (if your pediatrician oks this)

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  43. Hi Rachel, my little girl is 11 weeks and she used to sleep pretty well till about 2 or 3 weeks ago. She cries as soon as we even try to put her down in her bassinet. During the day she only naps for about 30-40 mins at a time and then wakes up screaming. She would sleep for 2 hrs is she's in the carrier or someone holds her on their chest. That someone is usually me and I'm exhausted! I don't wanna encourage bad sleeping habits by letting her sleep like this. I have to feed her to sleep at night, it's the only way she gets drowsy and sleepy enough for me to put her down. She's quite a slow eater, it takes her about 50 mins to finish both sides and she gets really sleepy afterwords so it's hard to follow eat wake sleep routine. She yawns during feeding and a few minutes after she's done she starts screaming because she's tired, no other tired cues, it's straight to crying. I don''t want to have to keep nursing/cuddling her to sleep, it's exhausting and I need some time for myself!
    Another problem is night sleeping. It's nearly impossible to get her to sleep early (7pm bedtime) she usually goes down around 10, after hours of crying, fussing, feeding. She sleeps for 2-3 hours, wakes to feed for an hour and then sleeps for another 1,5-2 hours. I've tried shush and pat but it doesn't seem to work as she gets frustrated the longer I do it for.

    Any advice will be more than appreciated as I'm really close to losing it.

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  45. Hi Rachel -

    My baby just turned 3 months and for the past month or so her naps shave been shorter. She used to sleep for 1-2 hours the first 2 months of her life and now the only long nap is the morning nap for 2 hours or longer if I don't wake her. After that she will take 45min - 1 hr naps. Her day starts at 6:45-7:15 am and she goes to bed between 10-11 pm. She takes about 5 naps in the day and fights naps after 6-7pm. So we just feed and play every 2 hours until bedtime.

    My question is whether that is normal or should I try to extend her naps. I just recently noticed on the video monitor that she will wake around 3-4 am quietly for a few minutes, roll side to side and got back to sleep (no cry), then she may wake around 5 am quietly move around for a few more minutes and then snooze again. She seems happy and awake during the day.

    Thanks!

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  46. Hi Rachel

    Wow - your blog is amazing!! It's just what I've been looking for and is so clear and perfect for me in how flexible and educational it is - thanks so much!!

    I have a question though - My 8 week old just loves to sleep in the day, but only on me, rather than in her bed!! I've only been doing the EASY routine since yesterday and had a triumph this morning as she has been asleep for her morning nap in her bed. But should be waking her up from naps...

    This is what happened this morning:
    06:45am - woke and feed
    07:45am - was super sleepy so put to bed
    08:15am - went to sleep
    It's now 10am and she's still asleep, so it's over 3 hours from when she last fed, and my problem with her is she sleeps so much in the day that she's hard to put down at night. Should I be waking her from her naps??
    Thanks
    Louise :)

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  47. Hi Rachel

    Thank you for your really helpful website.

    I am looking to implement EWS more formally with my son who is nearly 5 weeks old. He is mixed fed with breast during the day and two bottles overnight. We have been focusing on giving full feeds from the beginning and he tends to go anywhere from 2-5 hours between feeds with some awake time after a feed and then he falls asleep.

    He sleeps well during the night in his Sleepyhead in the crib and is swaddled in a Halo swaddle suit. It is his daytime naps that I am struggling with, he will only nap on someone, in the buggy if we’re out or in the sling. Occasionally he’s had a nap in his Sleepyhead but won’t fall asleep on his own there on his own. I have tried to make the crib more comfortable including putting something that smells like me in it.

    I have read you guide as to the 4S to get my baby in my he crib but given that we haven’t formally started EWS yet I wondered if I should focus on the three hour routine before focussing on getting him to nap in his crib.

    Your thoughts are much appreciated!

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    1. L,
      Usually easier to start with ews routine then work more on naps. But it's really whatever makes the most sense for you.

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  48. Hi Rachael:

    Hope you can answer my question . I have a two month old who seems got the EAS switched to ESA. She feeds every three hours around the clock even started night. In the day time I tried my best to keep her stay awake after feeding. But she seems super sleepy after feeding. She will go down for a cat nap less than an hour then stay awake until the next feeding time. I am not sure what I can do to change the routine. Please help.

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